Arch support and shoe-shank reenforcement



Sept. 25, 1928.

F. G. DELBON ARCH SUPPORT AND SHOE SHANK REENFORCEMENT Filed Jan. 5, 1927 INVENTOR fa /w. 6'. 56250 ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 25, 1928.

UNITED STATES FRANK G. DELBON, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

AROH SUPPORT AND SHOE-SHL'NK REENFORCEMENT.

Application filed January 5, 1927. Serial No. 159,132.

This invention relates to improvement in pedal arch supports, and has particular reference to such devices which are adapted to be built into shoes, boots, and the like to rea enforce the same.

In U. S. Letters Patent No. 1,432,160, granted to me Oct. 17, 1922, a desirable shoe shank stiffener has been disclosed, and the present invention is an improvement on that In device, an import-ant object of the invention being to provide an arch support having considerable yieldability as compared with the device of the above identified patent, without sacrificing the necessary mechanical strength.

I Other objects are to simplify the structure of such arch supports whereby to reduce the manufacturing cost, to provide increased comfort for the wearer, and to provide a novel blank for the product-ion of such deen vice.

These and other objects and advantages will be readily apparent from the following description in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein two embodiments of the invention are shown by way of illustration, and wherein Fig. 1 is a plan view of a sheet metal blank used in the production of the improved arch support;

Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view of the complete arch support for a left foot;

Fig. 3 is a top plan View of the same;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the device;

Fig. 5 is a vertical transverse sectional View on line 5-5 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is a similar sectional view on line 6-6 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 7 is a top plan view illustrating a modified form of the invention.

The specific embodiments of the invention illustrated in the drawings are of the type adapted to be built into shoes by way of reenforcement, but obviously certain features of the invention can be advantageously employed in loose or detachable arch supports. Referring particularly to Figs. 1 to 6 inclusive, it will be seen that the device includes an arch portion 11 and a heel portion 12, the arch portion being longitudinally curved upwardly and rearwardly to conform to the normal arch of a. foot, and the heel portion substantially merging with the arch portion. In length the shoe-shank reenforcement will extend from above the heel to the rear end of the tread of the sole of the shoe, and is provided at its forward end with a substantially flat table portion 13. The shoe-shank reenforcements are made in rights and lefts for pairs. of shoes, Fig 3 showing one for a left foot shoe.

The heel portion 12 has rearwardly converglng side edges 14 and may be slightly concave as indicated at 15 in Fig. 4, and the arch portion 11 may preferably have its side edges 16 curved inwardly. The table portion 13 is approximately rectangular in outline, being defined at its inner edges by the bendlmes 17 and 18 which diverge from a point 19, which represents the forward end of the shank portion of the device. At approxi mately its longitudinal center, the arch portion 11 is provided with a ridge 20, the forward end of which terminates at the point 19, and which is formed by pressing the sheet material so that it is transversely inclined at opposite sides of the ridge.

Intermediate its ends, the ridge 20 may be provided with a relatively thin longitudinal slot 21, and at opposite sides of the ridge are additional slots 22 and 23, the extremities of each of said slots preferably terminating in enlarged apertures 24. The slots 22 and 23 are preferably of greater length than the slot 21, and may be curved in such a manner as to be substantially parallel with the side edges 16. By thus slotting the sheet material, the arch portion 11 is provided with a pair of independently yieldable portions or zones 25 and 26 at each side of the ridge 20, both of which zones are transversely inclined toward said ridge, and the inner zone 25 of each pair being more flexible than the outer zone 26. By preference, the outer zones 26 are wider than the inner zones 25 and, as best shown in Fig. 5, the two'pairs of zones have diflerent degrees of inclination. After formation, the metal is tempered in any desired manner, whereby to render it resilient, and it will therefore be evident that the improved shoeshank reinforcement will be capable of flexure under the movements of the foot, yet will not become deformed.

The device may readily be formed from a single sheet metal blank as shown in Fig. 1, the slots 21, 22, and 23 being provided by punching or cutting as desired. The ridge 20 and bend-lines 17 and 18 may be produced by suitable dies of simple character, and the structure is suchthat the device may be economically manufactured.

In use, the device may be secured in a shoe in the usual manner as previously explained, and when the wearers weight is upon the foot, the arch will be well supported, yieldably, with due regard to anatomical structures, particularly the tarsal and metatarsal bones. In view of the independently yeildable portions at opposite sides of the longitudinal center, the improved arch support and shoeshank reenforcement will be exceptionally comfortable to the wearer, and this feature, coupled with its lightness in weight, renders it highly desirable.

The means for imparting flexibility to the ridge 20 may be varied in several ways. For example, in Fig. 7 a modified form of shoeshank reenforcement 30 has been shown, it being of substantially the same character as the previously described form with the exception that the ridge 31 of the arch portion is provided with a plurality of relatively short transverseslots 32, which are spaced apart from each other, and which intersect the central longitudinal slot 33. In this way the yieldability of the arch portion is in-' creased, although it will be obvious that the transverse slots 32 may be employed without the longitudinal slots 33, if desired.

From the foregoing it will be evident that an improved arch supporter and shoe-shank reenforcement has been provided, of eX- tremely simple construction, low manufacturing cost, and increased comfort. The invention is, of course, susceptible of further modifications, and the right is herein reserved to make such changes in the construction as fall within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A shoe shank reenforcement formed of sheet metal and having an arch-supporting member characterized by a pair of independently yieldable, longitudinal, portions at each side of the longitudinal center, both pairs of yieldable portions being transversely inclined toward said longitudinal center, and the inner yieldable portion of each pair having a greater yieldability than the outer portion of the pair.

2. A shoe shank reenforcement formed of sheet metal and having a curved arch-supporting member characterized by a pair of independently yieldable, longitudinal, portions at each side of the longitudinal center, both pairs of yieldable portions defining zones which are transversely inclined toward said longitudinal center, and the inner zone of each pair havinga greater inclination at its proximate center than the outer zone of the pair and merging at its outer ends with said outer zone.

3. An arch support formed of sheet material which is longitudinally curved convexly, and transversely converging inwardly and downwardly to a substantially central ridge,

the ridge having a relatively short slit intermediate its ends, and the inclined portions at opposite sides of the ridge being provided with slits of greater length than that in said ridge.

FRANK e. DELBON. 

